Wednesday, June 4, 2008

This past Sunday, June 1st we made our way back to the central valley to enjoy some company and dinner with some friends and attend the annual "Celebaration of Wine" which is put on by the Fresno State Enology Alumni Association. This is the second year at a new venue a lovely park setting on the river. The weather could have not been better, about 80 degrees with a gentle breeze, not the usual conditions for an event held in the valley on the first of June. The event was well attended, and they have a trade hour prior to the start of the event, which game the opportunity to go out and try some other wines before the start of the event. I got to try a pomegranate Mead which was unique as well as reminisce with a few fellow winemakers whom I rarely get to see anymore.

It was nice to talk to the crowd and for most of them it was an introduction to Barreto Cellars and the wines that we make. Our booth was positioned between the booths of an Italian restaurant and an Asian fusion restaurant, this made it simple to suggest wines to try, I just had to look at their plate. If they had Pasta with Ragu sauce I would suggest the Tempranillo, if it was shrimp tempura or orange chicken Touriga was the recommendation. I did get the chance to see a couple of friends from college, which added to an already fun afternoon.

I need to apologise for not reporting on happenings for May, but it was a busy but tedious month. Most big happenings were for my day job at Sylvester Winery, May means WineFest in Paso Robles and most of the month was dedicated to preparing for the event. With regards to Barreto Cellars, I did manage to get out and walk some of the blocks on the Huehuero ranch and see how things were progressing and I topped and tasted the 2007 wines to make sure that they were still on track.

June will see the bottling of the 2006 reds and the 2007 Verdelho, a very nervous time as everything comes down to bottling day, it is the feeling you get after you hand in a term paper, did you remember to do this, what if you had done that, but you cannot change it any more.

Lastly on the gardening front. Since I have not mentioned them since planting, once the seedlings got established, I was able to scatter them among friends and family, from Madera to Paso Robles, SLO and Arroyo Grande. Some are good and happy others are a little weaker. We should have some cabbage by the end of the June. I will report back report back with a recipe for Caldo Verde soup.